2008 Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Cross Country Championship Preview
Men's action will begin Saturday at 11 a.m. at Broughton Nature Preserve

Written with the help of Derek Stanley, Head Cross Country Coach
Oct. 29, 2008
Marietta, Ohio — With the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) boasting three of the top five men’s teams in the 2007 Great Lakes Regional Championship, the 2008 OAC Men’s Cross Country Championship is not without quality. Heidelberg, Mount Union and Ohio Northern will once again battle for the OAC Championship.

The favorite depends on whom you ask. Ohio Northern, last year’s team champion, had a strong showing recently at the Inter-Regional Rumble, hosted by Oberlin. The Polar Bears finished third overall, trailing only New York University, last year’s national champions, and Dickinson, who is ranked third in the Mid-East Region.

Mount Union finished sixth at Oberlin, 62 points behind Ohio Northern. OAC cross country fans know that a John Homon coached team is known for its ability to show up when it matters; therefore, no one can count Mount Union out of contention this season.

The “dark horse” is Heidelberg, last year’s OAC runner-up. The Student Princes have not competed in the larger meets over the past few weeks, making it hard to determine how well they are running as they head into the championship. Heidelberg has already run well at the Broughton Nature Preserve at Marietta’s home meet in September, winning convincingly. Heidelberg also showed off a couple of new runners that replaced its losses from last year’s national qualifying team.

Baldwin-Wallace is also coming off a strong meet at Oberlin where, led by its two seniors, finished 12th overall. Baldwin-Wallace also defeated Heidelberg at the All-Ohio Championship.

Otterbein will rely on its strong pack of runners to move up and surprise some teams. The Cardinals had their top five runners finish within 20 seconds of each other, helping them take 17th at Oberlin.

Wilmington had a great showing at its home meet on October 17. The Quakers finished fifth out of 23 teams and had their top five runners all finish under 27:30.

Capital brings in a much-improved team from previous years and will battle with John Carroll, Marietta and Muskingum with all four trying to position themselves with the other conference teams.

The race for men’s individual champion should be fierce. Ohio Northern senior Jimmy O'Brien, last year’s champion, is coming off a sixth place finish at Oberlin, where he ran his fastest time of the year. Baldwin-Wallace senior Derek Hill, running his career-best time, crossed right behind him in seventh, while Mount Union sophomore Ty Griffin took 11th at Oberlin. Heidelberg junior Scott Lasch was runner-up at this meet a year ago, and junior teammate Devin Butcher is running well enough this year to challenge for the win. Otterbein senior Chase Schneider, Wilmington junior Austin Stiles and Mount Union senior Dustin Ford could also be in the mix with a mile to go on Saturday.